The Anthropology Society
The Anthropology Society is a student-organized body of undergraduate students interested in various aspects of the discipline. Membership is not limited to anthropology majors. The Society has its own lounge in B-111, organizes field trips to sites of anthropological and archaeological interest, and has various other educational and social functions. The Anthropology Society meets during Bengal Pause.
The Anthropology Lab
The department's facilities include a large well-equipped laboratory and storage rooms for archaeology and physical anthropology. Holdings include human and primate skeletal material; Wenner-Gren and Philadelphia Museum Fossil Man casts; surveying, excavating and photographic equipment; as well as osteometric and anthropometric instruments.
The Niagara Frontier Folklore Archive
The Niagara Frontier Folklore Archive contains more than 4,000 student collections, filed by collector and cross referenced by genre (jokes, wedding customs, graffiti, etc.) and by ethnic, religious, age, occupational, and interest group (teenagers, rugby players, Wiccans, butchers, etc.). Many of these collections include audio tapes and slides as well as written material.
The Student Computer Lab
Currently equipped with four computers, with laser printer and scanner. The lab is open to all majors; the combination to the key pad on the door may be obtained from the department office.
The Archaeological Collection
An archaeological collection from the Eaton site is housed in the Anthropology Laboratory. It is the result of seventeen field seasons of excavation directed by Professor Bill Engelbrecht. The site is located in West Seneca and contains a long history of occupation, from the Archaic period through the nineteenth century. In the sixteenth century it was the location of an Iroquoian village. Students with an interest in archaeology are encouraged to work with these materials, either by taking ANT 415 (Seminar in Archaeology) or signing up for an independent project.
Murals
The six panels on the wall opposite HB 116 are copies of figures from the Upper Paleolithic cave site of Lascaux in France. Experimental archaeology suggests the original images, which are approximately 17,500 years old, were created by blowing pigment onto the rock surface. The animals depicted are red deer and aurochs, the ancestors of modern cattle. These panels were painted by Phyllis Buckley, a Buffalo artist, and were on display at the Buffalo Museum of Science from 1955 to 1997, when they were donated to the Anthropology Department at Buffalo State College.
Anthropology Resources in the Library
In addition to many books, journals, and general social science online databases, the E. H. Butler Library contains three important anthropological collections online.
Anthropology Plus: index to journal articles in all areas of anthropology, ethnology, archaeology, and folklore from the late-nineteenth-century to the present.
AnthroSource: A database of peer-reviewed journals, newsletters, and bulletins published by the American Anthropological Association.
eHRAF (Human Relations Area Files): Cross-cultural database containing books, articles, and dissertations on all aspects of cultural and social life worldwide.
Anthropology Resources on the Web
Resources in Ethnographic Studies
A collection of resources in Anthropology, Ethnomusicology, Folklore, and Folklife (A Library of Congress Internet Resource Page)
Careers in Anthropology
American Anthropological Association
